Tanque Verde Elementary School

WONDERFUL if you don't have a SPED kid. Okay if you have a SPED kid and don't ask for much. Our child goes there. But our friends with a SPED kid had to leave. Could not get appropriate services and were told their kid didn't need help but school in Phoenix was glad to help them. People shouldn't have to move because their kid is SPED. Felt bad for the parents and the kid. My kid isn't SPED and is doing well. But I'm not very well liked because the principal (and speech person) know I know what they did to this family. Yes, you can send your kid without junk food. However, most teachers don't seem to care that there's a river of sugar running through most classrooms. Birthdays, "special occasions" and "contests" (like bringing in the most box tops, copy paper for the office, etc.) can EASILY result in your child being offered upwards of 500 pure junk calories each and every single week.
—Submitted by a parent

WE love this school. This is our first year here and my 5th grader has been very well accepted by her peers. Our family is not white and we have been welcomed with open arms. The teachers are amazing and very dedicated!! You do need to get involved and willing to help in the classroom and with school activities and you will see how nice people truly are. My daughter was in another school from pre-school to 4th grade and wanted to try another school and she just loves TVES!!
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers are nice, good school academically but socially speaking I'm disappointed. It was very hard for my daughter to make friends. She is a bright bilingual child with good grades. I was not surprise to read other posts complaining about the same thing. people are not friendly to outsiders in this school. If you are not white you are a GHOST , they don't care to meet you. My daughter came to this school from a non public school system in the area, we never had this problem. My daughter will be moved to a more diverse open school: St Gregory's.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved from Northern Arizona the summer of 2010. We rented a home that ended up being in the Tanque Verde School District. I had never heard of Tanque Verde Schools before. We had a 6th, 3rd, 1st and pre-k that we enrolled. We have been very happy with our experience at Tanque Verde Elementary School and also with the pre-school. The teachers and staff have been wonderful. I can tell that they love what they are doing and that my Childs success means alot to them. I have never felt that I wasn't good enough or that there were clicks and that I didn't belong. The office staff and others that I came in contact with were always friendly and helpful. I loved the "specials" that they had. They had Spanish, music, art, PE and computer lab. I LOVED TVES! We had to move in the fall of 2011 to another school district that is also an A+ school and I'm still waiting to be impressed. :(
—Submitted by a parent

TVE survived the times pretty well; class size reasonable & many specials like Spanish, art, music are offered, plus they have a science lab staffed with a wonderful teacher. There are great teachers here, but lack of leadership hurts and year after year the brightest leave for basis or St. Gregs and the board & superintendent do nothing to address this issue. While cluster grouping has helped, it is not expanded to all grades because the principal can't get teachers to cooperate. Who is in charge? Overall a good school, but a reviewer stating it is full of liberals is a JOKE! This is a Republican, conservative district with few open minded liberals, one of the downsides to this district -- lily white Christian & intolerant of differences. However, if you fit this mold you will find people friendly and down to earth.
—Submitted by a parent

My son attends TVES as an open enrollment student. We live within the district boundaries but have chosen not to attend ACES for personal reasons. TVES has been a fantastic environment for my son. The specialized PE teacher is outstanding. Each of his classroom teachers has been outstanding. We feel very lucky to be a part of this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Much better than ACES for leadership and special needs.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm a new parent at TVES; we are an open-enrollment family. We absolutely love the school. They have helped my daughter and she has grown in her studies, even as she was behind at the start of this 2008-2009 school year. Her teacher is excellent, as are the office staff. We have been welcomed by all.
—Submitted by a parent

I will be pulling my student out this year too, I think they are too worried about their excelling label to help kids who need it. The most important thing is self-esteem, and it can hurt a child's self-esteem if they feel like an outsider.
—Submitted by a parent

My son transferred to TVES as a first grader this year. We couldn't be happier. The teachers are wonderful, and the school leadership is excellent. We have found the school community to be very friendly.
—Submitted by a parent

4 years ago we moved into this area strictly for the Tanque Verde School District... Our experience thus far has been phenomenal. We often feel our children are getting a 'private' education at a public school price! Parent involvement is spectacular - you have to sign-up early if you want to volunteer! While the community is generally 'affluent,' it is not 'snobby' (there are always exceptions, of course). This area of Tucson gets the 'down to earth' families - and while they also may be in the upper middle-class, you just don't see a lot of pretentious spoiled brats. We have no intention on leaving this school district anytime soon and we highly recommend TVES!!
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended TVES for 2 yrs, grades 3 and 4. She's bright anyway, did well in everything, math instruction wasn't anything special. I was disappointed students don't get instrumental music til 5th grade, Spanish not integrated in regular class and little enrichment for students who don't test out as gifted but who perform above grade level in certain subjects.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree the school is great academically, could be better. It is hard for outsiders to make friends and feel part of a community. Seems if you didnt start your child in Kindergarten and you yourself werent born here...YOU DONT EXIST. Its a horriable shame for such a school/community to treat one that way. Principal WHO? Do we have one? The montlhy letter from her is about all I know. Have never seen the woman, I myself being on campus as much as Im able helping and attempting to volunteer. (Yes even as parents theres a CLICK..as a parent if your not in the click...............well you too like your child dont exist) We have pulled our child out this year,a horriable shame again for such an academically good PUBLIC school.
—Submitted by a parent

My children came here from Phoenix last year. The academics here are outstanding. Most teachers are great, caring. Some blatantly play favorites. The principal mostly puts her head in the sand. Due to the affluence here, parents don't work, they've lived here a long time, not very friendly to outsiders, very gossipy. Being new is very tough. My 5th grader had a difficult time making friends, very cliquish. As far as public schools TVES is great academically, terrible socially.
—Submitted by a parent

TVES provides exceptional services for children with special needs. The after-school program is outstanding. Due to the affluent community, there are many stay-at-home moms (and a few dads)who have time to volunteer both in the classroom/library and for fund-raising efforts to supplement publicly funded services and equipment. Although there are a few teachers I've consistently heard complaints about, my two children have had a total of 9 teachers and we've been happy with all of them. Principal often takes a head-in-the-sand approach to problems, but most of the staff is experienced and dedicated so that is not a big issue, except for isolated issues that could be handled better. Commnunity spirit at TVES is wonderful.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a very large school site with wealthy families being the norm. The teachers are too worried about being the favorite teacher to really be a great teacher. Parents are very liberal in their thinking.
—Submitted by a parent

I have sub there several times. The children were engaged in learning and enjoyed their school.
—Submitted by a teacher

Nice 'smaller' school district.
—Submitted by a parent

A very parent involved school, with alot of great people.
—Submitted by a parent

Does the job, but not very user friendly.
—Submitted by a staff